


Tomorrow is Another Day

by elephant_bubbles



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Babyfic, F/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25538914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elephant_bubbles/pseuds/elephant_bubbles
Summary: Linhardt doesn’t like to be disturbed from sleep, but this time it’s because of something important.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Linhardt von Hevring
Kudos: 23





	Tomorrow is Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> Here’s my first little contribution to the three houses fandom. These two were one of the first supports I got and I quickly became attached to them and just had to write something. Hope you like it!

Linhardt’s sleep was deep, peaceful, and just what he’d needed after the long day of research he’d had...but it felt like it was only mere moments after his head had hit his pillow that he was being shaken awake again. 

“Linhardt?” 

He slowly came awake to his wife’s voice, and her relentless shaking of his shoulder, barely hearing her words in the thin veil of consciousness he was floating in. 

“I...I think my water broke.” 

Linhardt groaned as he mostly returned to consciousness, and rolled over towards the sound of her voice groggily. He was still wrapped up in sleep, her words not registering in his brain. It was still very dark in the bedroom, and the digital clock by the bed informed them it was just after one in the morning. 

“Hm, that’s alright, Dorothea, I’ll fix it tomorrow,” he said without even opening his eyes, finishing with a big yawn. 

Linhardt rolled back over without another word, trying to find the comfortable position he’d been in just a minute before so he could head back down into the world of sleep—

And her words suddenly clicked with him. The words he’d been both waiting for and dreading for ages. 

Now wide awake, his eyes shot open and he sat up in a hurry, turning to Dorothea in the dark. “Oh. Oh my. I guess the time for sleep is over now.”

* * *

Ever since learning about Dorothea’s pregnancy, Linhardt’s main research topic had been about pregnancy and everything associated with it. It had been one of the more fascinating things he’d poured research into. He had spent the last nine months preparing himself for fatherhood, but quickly learned that researching it and experiencing it first (second) hand were two completely different things. Nevertheless, as Dorothea trudged on through the night, he recalled tidbits from his research on what he best could do to help her through labor, and for that Dorothea was grateful. 

But the night stretched on to early morning, and eventually his exhaustion did creep up on him, but he did everything in his power to avoid going to sleep, using the reward of getting to meet his child as a way to make himself stay awake. 

And finally, that happened.

They were both shocked at the sudden tiny cry that broke the early morning air in that small hospital room, and no amount of research or preparation could have prepared either of them for this moment. 

“It’s a boy,” the doctor said, lifting the crying child up and into his parents’ views, Dorothea panting a bit and Linhardt frozen with his mouth opened slightly. It took a few seconds of actually hearing the cry before either of them could speak, and it was finally Linhardt who broke the silence. 

“He’s here, you did it.” 

He spoke the words just inches from Dorothea’s ear, where he had previously been giving her words of love and encouragement during the delivery. Now he was shocked at the words he was saying as he stared at the tiny, pink, dark haired baby who had just been born. Their  _ son _ was here. 

A tiny cough put a momentary stop to the high pitched crying before it resumed, and it was here that the doctor finally lifted the baby up and onto Dorothea’s chest. She was met with a tiny, scrunched up and bright pink face, and immediately fell in love. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his body as the cries began to weaken.

“Hi, baby, I’m your mom,” Dorothea whispered, the words feeling odd to speak aloud. “I’m here, and you’re here too, now.” She stroked one tiny arm with her fingers, hoping touching the baby would make what had just happened feel more real and less like a dream. 

“And I’m dad. Happy birthday,” Linhardt added, leaning in a bit to try to get a better look at his son. 

The baby’s crying had now stopped, from hearing both of their voices. There were no words to describe this moment, and no nap in the world could compare to the feeling. 

* * *

“Do you remember what you said in the middle of the night, Lin?” 

Linhardt had been dozing now, having turned the small hospital room’s couch into a makeshift bed. It had been peaceful and quiet in the room, the baby having nodded off after getting a clean bill of health in a bassinet by the bed, Dorothea resting in the bed after a shower and her own clean bill of health after the delivery. 

The perfect opportunity for a nap had arrived with the mid-morning sun. 

“Hm?” Linhardt asked, opening his eyes and looking blearily up at the room’s ceiling. 

“When I woke you up to tell you my water broke,” Dorothea pressed on. He turned his head on the pillow, unable to see her face but now at least looking in her general direction. 

“I don’t recall,” he replied after another moment. “It’s been a long handful of hours since then.” 

“You said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll fix it tomorrow’, and in a way, you sort of did fix it, didn’t you?” she asked. “Because he’s here now.”

“You did most of the work,” he replied. “I was just there for support.” 

He yawned, closing his eyes again. “I think you should take a rest now, it’s been a long morning. And there’s no question that Barnaby will be needing you later.” 

“I know, I just can’t stop staring at him,” Dorothea said in a quiet, excited voice, but he could hear her exhaustion underneath. “He even sleeps like you, with the same peaceful expression and everything.” 

“He’ll be there when you wake up. Please, you need rest,” he insisted, both for her and his own sake, unable to ignore the small pang of pride at her words. He could feel himself nearly on the brink of sleep and ached to cross the line. 

“Alright. Sleep does sound nice.” 

He heard her sigh contently, and hoped it meant she had allowed herself to rest. With that, Linhardt finally allowed himself to drift off, but was ready to jump up at the slightest noise from his son.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve said this before: maybe someday I won’t dive into a new fandom with babyfic, but today is still Not That Day. Thanks for reading!


End file.
